Iceless refrigerator



Sept. 17, 1.929. y E, v HEAFORD 1,728,887

ICELES S REFRIGERATOR Filed Feb. 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l E. V. HEAFORD ICELEss REFRIGERATOR sept. 17, 1929.

Filed Feb. 18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet fifi Patented Sept. 17, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWIN Vf HEAFORD, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGN OR TO J'OSEI'Ih ',VOSENTHAL AN D SAMUEL HORWITZ, BOTH F DENVER', COLORADO ICELESS REFRIGERATOR Application filed February 1 8, 1928. Serial No. 255,373.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of iceless refrigerators.

It is the object of this invention to produce a device by means of which a low temperature 5 can be obtained and maintained without the use of ice and without the use of the ordinary refrigerating machines.

My invention, briefly described, consists in an outer casing having one side provided with an opening which is yclosed by means of doors and an inner casing which extends inwardly from the door opening and Whose outer walls are spaced from the inner surface of the outer casing so as to provide an air space between the two casings, thetop and the bottom of the outer casing are provided with openings through which air may enter and leave so as to produce a constant circulation of air. rlhe outside of the inner casing is covered with liquid absorbent material Whose upper end terminates within a shallow basin which forms the upper end of the inner casing. The lower end of the fabric terminates near the lower end of the inner casing directly above a gutter which extends around the lower end of the inner casing and serves to receive the drip from the fabric. Vithin the inner casing l provide a heat exchange device consisting of a coil having zig Zag passages through which Water may flow. This heat exchange device is connected to a water supply and is connected at the discharge end with a drain pipe and the ow of water is adjusted so as to maintain the heat exchange device at substantially the temperature of the water. Means is also provided forv delivering a small amount of water to the shallow pan at the top of the inner casing so as to provide the necessary water to keep the absorbent fab- 40 ric wet. The air that circulates upwardly l through the space between the two casings causes a rapid evaporation of the water carried by the absorbent fabric and this in turn reduces the temperature and as this absorbent fabric is in contact with the outer wall of the inner casing, it serves to reduce the temperature within the casing. The heat exchange device is located within the Icasing and as the cold water circulates, this also tends to absorb heat and reduce the temperature in the casing.

proved refrigerator has three means for rev ducing the temperature; First, by the circulation of an air current. Second, bythe evaporation of an exposed lm of water evenly distributed by means of a porous fabric. And third, by the circulation of a, cooling liquid through a coil forming a head exchange device. Either or all of these three means can be employed so as to obtain the temperature desired.

Having thus briefly described the invention, the latter will now be described in detail and reference for this purpose will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the preferred embodiment has been illustrated, and in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through one of the improved refrigerators taken on line 1*1, Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 isla section taken online 2--2, Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3--3, Fig. l

Il is a section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 1 an Fig. 5 is a' sectiontaken on line 5 5, Fig. l.

The refrigerator comprises an outer casing having a rear wall 1 a bottom 2, a removable top 3 and a front side wall 4 and is, of course, provided with end walls 5 and. The front side is provided with an opening which is divided into three smaller openings A, B and C by means of transverse members 7 and 8 The bottom 2 has an opening 9 and the top 3 has an opening 10. Air may enter through opening 9 and escape through the opening l() in the'manner indicatesl by the arrows. If desired a flue 11 may be secured to the top and extended upwardly so as to increase the tendency to produce a draft and thereby increase the rate of air circulation. Located within the outer casing is an inner casing which is formed .from sheet metal and has a rear wall 12, a bottom 13, a top 14, end walls 15 and 16. rlhe top 14 is secured to the sides and end walls a short distance below the upper ends so as to form a shallow pan 17. A gutter 18 extends aboutthe outer lower edge vof the. inside casing and this is connected by means of a pipe 19 to a drain pipe 20. The inner casing preferably rests on the supporting board 21 and has its open front end secured to the wall surroundingopening B so that the door that is employed for the purpose of closing opening B will close the front of the inside casing and will permit access to be had when in open position. A sheet of absorbent material 22 has its upper end provided with a wide hem 23 within which is located iron bars 24. This hem extends o ver the edges of the shallow pan in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of this fabric is provided with a hem 25 in which is located a bar 26. This absorbent fabric covers the outside ofthe rearwall 12 and the ends 15 and 16 of the inner casing. A pipe 27 is con-4 nected' with the 'water supply which may be the ordinary city water 'supply that is always maintained `under pressure. A three-way valve 28 is located in this pipe and from one opening `of this valve a pipe 29 extends to a T 3 0 in an upwardly extending pipe 31 that way valve 28 and the upper end of the groove is connected to the T 35 at the upper end of pipe 31. A valve 36 is located directly beneath T 35 and from the upper end of this T a pipe 37 extends upwardly and terminates overv the shallow pan'in the manner shown in Fig. 1. A plate 38 is secured to the casting having the grooves 33 so to close the open edges of these grooves and thereby produce passageways through which water will flow. This plate is provided with reenforcing ribs 39 that project into the grooves 33 and serve to give rigidity to this plate.k When the three-way valve is opened water will flow upwardly through pipe 34 vand will then pass upwardly through the-grooves 33 in the mannerndicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 and will finally pass from the upper section of groove 33 into the T 35 and will pass from thence downwardly through pipe 31 to the drain y pipe 30. By means of valve 36, it is possible to so adjust the opening at this point that part of the water will flow upwardly throu h pipe 37 and be delivered into the pan 17, t e water within pan 17,v will be acted upon by the capillary attraction of the fabric and will pass over the edges of this pan and thence downwardly, thereby keeping the fabric wet. Any water in excess of that required for evaporation will drip from. the lower end of the fabric and pass into the gutter 18, from which it will pass through pipe 19 into the drain pipe 20. lfViththe parts adjusted in the manner,described,'there will be a constant stream of cold water flowing through the heat exchange device and at the same time the absorbentrfabric will be kept wet. The air passing upwardly between the two casings will cause a rapid evaporation lof the water and thereby reduce the temperature to a very marked extent. The combined action of the heat exchange device and of the evaporation makes it possible to maintain within the inner chamber a temperature suitable for the preservation of perishable materials and under favorable conditions this temperature may be lower than forty degrees Fahrenheit, although this is not necessary forthe best results, the best temperatures for the preservation of foods being somewhere between forty-five degrees and fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

Located within theouter casing in the space between the top of the inner casing and the top of the outer casing is a metal pan 40. The bottom of this pan has a plurality of `openings 41 and is also provided -with downwardly extending supports, 42 that reston the bottom of the shallow pan 17 so as to support the pan. The air within the pan 40 will be very moist due to the evaporation of the water in pan 17, and also due to the fact that the air that has come in contact with the moist fabric will be moist when it reaches the top of the casing. This part of the refrigerator is therefore suitable for keeping foods that require a moist low temperature, such, for example as lettuce, celery and other similar foods. The air within the inner casing is always dry for the reason that no moisture has access to this chamber and therefore foods that should be kept dry can be maintained in this part of the refrigerator. For articles of food that do not require very low temperature, a space has been provided beneath the.

inside easing and access to this space can be had through opening C. The' space beneath the supporting shelf 2l is also lled with dry' air as the air that enters through opening 9 has not as yet come in contact with any moisture. It will thus be seen that my improved refrigerator is provided with three refrigerating chambers, all of which are maintained at a different temperature and two of which are dry, while the third is filled with moist air. lt is therefore possible to produce the best conditions for the preservation of foods of different kinds.

The pipe 27, as above described, is connecti ed with the pressure water supply ofthe building in which the refrigerator is located and pipe 2O is connected to a drain suitably connected with the sewer. By properly adjusting valves 28 and 36, a constant circulation of water can be maintained within the heat exchange device anda lconstant iiow of water supplied for pan 17. ,The circulation of air will take place automatically due to the difference of temperature atthe top and bottom of the refrigerator and if this natural circulation is not sufficient, a flue 11 may be employed in the manner above described and if a still greater air circulation is desired an electric fan may be provided so as to cause a forced circulation to be maintained.

It will be seen from the above that very low temperatures can be obtained without the use of ice and that when the refrigerator is once properly installed and adjusted, it will need no attention, but will automatically maintain the desired low temperatures.

I consider the provision of the three separate chambers, two of which have different degrees of humidity, as well as different degrees of temperature is an important improvement in refrigerators, as by this means a dry cold compartment can be produced for materials that require thisI and a moist cold for materials that require such refrigeration.

aving described my invention what I claim as new is:

1. A refrigerator comprising, in combination, an outer casing, a second casing located within the outer casing, the outside of the walls of the secondcasing being spaced from the inside of the walls ofthe outer casing so as to form a space, a shallow pan forming the top of the second casing, a liquid absorbent material extending,r downwardly over the outside of the second casing, said absorbent may casing.

l2. A refrigerator comprising, in combinaf tion, an outer casing having one side provided with doors, a bottom and a top member, said bottom and top having openings, a second casing located within the outer casing and spaced from the inside thereof so as to provide a space through which air, may circulate, a shallow pan at the top of the. second casing, a gutter extending around the second casing at the lower end thereof, absorbent cloth secured to the outside of the walls of the second casing, the upper end of said cloth terminating within the shallow pan, the lower ends of said cloth terminating abo've the gutter, a heat exchange device located within the second casing, means for circulating cold water through said device, means for continuously supplying water to the pan and a drain connection for the gutter.

3. A refrigerator comprising an outer casing having one side provided with an o ning, an inner casing having one side provided lwith an opening registering with the opening in thevv outer casing, the inner casing being smaller than the outer casing so as to provide a space between the inside of the outer casing Land the outside of the inner casing, the upper end of the inner casing being formed with a shallow depression adapted to contain water, the lower edge of the inner casing having an outwardly extending gutter, water absorbent fabric covering the outer walls of the inner casing, the upper end of the fabric extending into the depression, the lower end of the fabric terminating above the gutter, a heat exchange device located within the secondl casing, means for circulating cold water through said device, means for continuously supplying water to the depression, a drain connected with the gutter and means for circulating air between the two casings.

4. A refrigerator comprising, in combination, an outer casing, an inner casing, said casings having one common side wall, the inner casing being shorter than the outer casing so as to provide a space between the top and bottom ofthe inner casing and the top and bottom of the outer casing, an opening through the common wall into the interior of the inner casing and into the top andthe bottom space, a. heat exchange device located within the inner casing, said device having a zig zag passage for water, each section of said passage being inclined in the opposite direction to the adjacent section, the lower end of each section being connected with the upper end of the section directly below, the lower IOO end of the lowermost section being connected with a source of cold water under pressure, a drain pipe connected with the upper end of the passage in the heat exchange device, a valve in said drain pipe, a feed pipe connected to the drain pipe between the valve and theI heat exchange device, a shallow water con. tainel :n top of the inner casing, the feed pipe extending to a point above the water container so as to deliver water to it, a piece of water absorbent material having its upper end within the water container and extending downwardly over the walls of the inner casing, a gutter extending about the lower end of the inner casing and means for circulating air through the space between the ca'sings.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

EDWIN V. HEAFORD. 

